This Is Why We Find 'Ugly' Animals Cute

Blobfish, aye-ayes and jumping spiders all have a little something that makes us go "aww."

Some may say yes—but in an ugly-cute kind of way. When Ben Patten asked Weird Animal Question of the Week what makes humans see animals as cute, we decided to look into the psychology of why we find some odd-looking animals adorable.

These animals' baby-like traits make us think they're "in need of our companionship or care," which causes "the rush of warm emotion that is the cuteness response," says Joshua Dale, professor of foreign languages and literature at Tokyo Gakugei University and co-editor of The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness.

"Creepy Cute"

In Japan, land of huge-eyed anime and Hello Kitty, ugly-cute has its own name, kimo-kawaii, which roughly translates to "creepy-cute," says Hiroshi Nittono, director of the Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory at Osaka University.

The gist of kimo kawaii is that, though an animal may seem off-putting at first, the viewer will "actually find it interesting and want to approach and know it a little more," Nittono says.

Nittono also discovered our cute baby obsession has a benefit: attention to detail.

In a recent study led by Nittono, university students who played the children's game Operation improved their fine motor skills after viewing images of puppies and kittens. When they saw pictures of adult cats and dogs, however, there was no difference in their performance.

These Were Voted the Ugliest Endangered AnimalsAccording to the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, these are the five ugliest endangered animals.

The Aye-Aye of the Beholder

Ugly-cute reminds Clemson University psychologist Oriana Aragon of the "so bad it's good" aesthetic used in horror movies and other pockets of pop culture.

In other words, fawning over what most would say is an ugly animal is "a playful way" of embracing something outside the norm, according to Aragon.